Miriam's Story Corner

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The night was bitter in the Basque Country, and snow dusted the mountaintops as the clouds above expelled the magical ice crystals that glistened in the moonlight. The weather was quite unusual for this region of the nation.

Miriam and her family were spending a Winter vacation in the Zuberoa region, just on the precipice of the Pyrenees mountain range that separates Spain and France.

Miriam and her younger sister, Shirleigh, were passing the time in the cabin, telling ghost stories and playing card games while their parents were speaking in one of the rooms upstairs.

"No, I refuse to let you talk about our daughter like that!"

Their mother called after their father, who jogged down the stairs in a hurry.

"I am referring to our son, Victoria," the father replied sternly.

"We don't have a son anymore. Her name—"

"His name is—"

Miriam crawled over to her sister and covered her ears in hopes of blocking out their parents' argument.

Their parents always argued. But after their father discovered Shirleigh's transition, all of their arguments revolved around her identity. The father was strongly against such an idea, while the mother was nothing but supportive of her daughter.

The mother followed the father to the door when he suddenly turned around, a furious look in his eyes.

"Neither of you leave this cabin," he demanded.

Shirleigh curled up into Miriam's arms, and Miriam brought her closer, refusing to let her go.

"We'll be right back, okay?" Victoria smiled, but her eyes were sad and tired. "I'm going to talk to your father outside and hopefully calm him down, though I doubt I'll be successful. I love you both so much."

Victoria stood in the doorway looking at her daughters with gentle eyes. She sighed and left the cabin, slowly closing the door behind her.

"Wait, mom!" Shirleigh wrestled out of Miriam's arms and dashed toward the door.

"Shirleigh!" Miriam jumped to her feet and ran after her sister.

Shirleigh stood on the front steps of the cabin, gazing upon the snow-covered land, searching for her mother. In the distance, their mother could be seen running in the direction of the woods. Her voice could be heard calling after her husband.

Suddenly, Shirleigh took off, following her mother's footprints. Miriam ran after her.

Shirleigh made her way into the dense woods, desperately trying to find more of her mother's footprints, but they became scarcer the further she ventured in. She noticed some bushes that appeared to have been pushed aside and began to wonder if someone had passed through them. She carefully dropped to her hands and knees and quietly crawled toward the bush to peek through its leaves. Her view was limited, but she was able to make out a clearing just beyond her hiding place.

Just as soon as she was able to identify her mother's voice nearby, a bone-chilling scream shook the treetops.

Shirleigh leapt out of the bushes and was instantly frozen with a fear she had never felt before. The horrifying sight before her snatched her breath and instilled a great horror within her.

"You..."

Her father glared in her direction; the moon didn't shine in his soulless eyes. He remained still as his wife's screams echoed through the trees.

A giant beast held her down as it tore her flesh from her bones. The blood dripped onto the snow like fresh paint against a blank canvas.

"Shirleigh!"

Miriam spotted her younger sister frozen in place, her attention fixated on the gruesome scene that Miriam had yet to stumble upon.

"Oh, Sherrie, thank goodness you're okay," Miriam approached Shirleigh, but when she noticed the horrified expression on her sister's face and her unresponsiveness, Miriam's relief instantly turned into sudden dread. "Shirleigh? Shirleigh, are you alright? What's the matter?"

The sound of deep growls drew Miriam's attention to the ghastly sight of the beast that loomed over her mother's unmoving figure.

Shirleigh collapsed and hurled her most recent meal onto the snow. The beast turned to face the sisters, alerted by the sound. Clouds formed in front of its muzzle as it huffed maliciously.

"Shirleigh..." Miriam crouched beside her younger sister, placing an arm on her back. "I need you to get back to the cabin, okay? Can you do that for me, please?"

"I wasn't planning on disposing of all of you." Their father slowly stepped toward them. "But perhaps I can be rid of you all..."

"Father, please," Miriam said, standing up. "I don't know what happened or what you're planning to do, but don't you dare lay a hand on Shirleigh."

Before she could blink, their father had grabbed her scarf. He stared at her, his eyes wild. The beast gradually came closer and stood strong beside him, ready to pounce at a moment's notice.

"You don't know what's happened?" His voice boomed. "You have the nerve to say that name and claim to not know what's happened?"

"All of this is because of your disapproval of Shirleigh?" Miriam recounted. "She is just as much your daughter as I am. If you do not want anything to do with her, then I do not want anything to do with you."

The father's shoulder shook as he chuckled to himself, then he exploded into uncontrollable laughter. The beast's growls grew louder, and he held an arm out to calm it. His hand reached for his coat pocket when something swiped at him.

Now holding a small firearm, Shirleigh's arms shook with intense fear, the pistol aimed at her father. He glared at her, seething with anger.

"Shirleigh," Miriam called out. "Shirleigh, don't—"

There was a sharp whistle followed by the sound of a loud gunshot, and everything fell silent.

The father lay in the snow, blood pooling underneath him. Only then did his eyes seem to have life, shining beneath the moon.

Shirleigh wavered, dropping the firearm upon the ground and losing her balance. Miriam caught her before she fell and pulled her into a warm embrace. Having fainted from all of the shock, Shirleigh remained limp in her sister's arms as Miriam cradled her in the snow.

"I'm going to make this better, okay?" She whispered. "You're going to be okay, I promise."

The beast was never seen again.